Apparatus for removing dirt from excavations.



No. 764,202; PATENTBD 'JULY 5, `1904.

W. J. NEWMAN. APPARATUS POR RBMOVING DIRT PROM EXCAV-ATIONS.

APPLICATION FILEDSEPT. 24. 1903. I

No MODEL. 3 SHEETS-:SHEET 1.

gif: t

PATBNTED JULY 5, 1904.

W. J. NEWMAN. APPARATUS POR REMOVING DIRT PRGM BXCAVATIONS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. Z4, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

No. 764,202. v l PATBNTED JULY 5, 1904. W. J. NEWMAN. APPARATUS FORREMOVING DIRT FROM BXGAVATIONS.

APPIBIOATION FILED SEPT. 24, 1903. N0 MODEL.

menus 5i M WM@ UNiTED STATES Patented vl'uly 5, 1904.

PATENT IVILLIAM J. NEWMAN` OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letter.; Patent No. 764,202, dated July 5,19.04.

Applicationlerl September 24, 1903. Serial No. 174,427. (No model) To{LZ whom it may cm1/cern:

Be it known that I, VILLIAM J. NEWMAN, of Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Apparatus for Removing Dirt from Excavations; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof,reference being had to thc accompanying drawings, and to the letters ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

rlhis invention relates to improvements in apparatus for removing dirtfrom excavations, such as the cellar-way or basement of a building,preparatory to constructing' the building and delivering it to wagons orother vehicles by which it is removed from the premises; and theinvention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth, and moreparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

A complete apparatus in which my improvements are conveniently embodiedembraces, in general terms, an inclined or sloping' track extending fromthe bottom of the excavation to'a point outside or on thc bank thereof,a dumping car or cars traveling on said track, a structure or framelocated outside the excavation upon which the upper or outer end of thetrack is supported, means on or at said frame for dumping said car, apassage-way beneath said frame into and through which a wagon or othervehicle may pass to receive the dirt dumped from the car, and aplurality of branch tracks laid on the bottom of the excavation and sodisposed that cars -on said track are accessible for filling fromdierent parts of the excavation, said tracks being` so` arrangedrelatively to the foot of the sloping track that the dumping car or carsmay be readily transferred from any of said branch tracks to the foot ofthe inclined track, and a cable operating from a central point locatedat the foot of the sloping track to draw the cars upwardly from thebranch tracks to the sloping track, from whence said car or ears may bedrawn up the sloping track to the dumping apparatus outside of theexcavation.

The present invention relates more specifically to the arrangement ofthe parts inside of the excavation, and such parts may be used withelevating and dumping apparatus of a kind differing from that hereinshown.

In the drawings, Figures 1 and l, contained on Sheets l and 2, is a viewpartially in side elevation and partially in section, the section beingtaken on linel l of Fig. 2 of an apparatus made in accordance with myinvention, showing the part thereof located -outside the excavation andthe part inside the excavation and the inclined track connecting thesame. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of the parts of the'apparatus located within the excavation at or near the foot of theinclined track. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation of a part oftheapparatus located inside the excavation, taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 2.Fig. i is a top plan view showing the arrangement of the tracks in theyexcavation.

As shown in the drawings, Adesignates the inclined or sloping track,which extends from the bottom of the excavation to the structure orframe on the bank thereof, which supports said upper end of the track A,the dumping apparatus, and a guide-hopper C and is arranged to affordbeneath the same a passageway for a wagon D or other vehicle to receivethe dirt dumped from the car through the -guide-hopper C and convey itfrom the premises. B designates a dumping-car which travels on saidtrack A and which is filled with dirt in the excavation and thereafterdrawn upwardly therefrom on said track A to the dumping apparatus.

The parts just described are generally like the same parts of theapparatus shown in my prior application for United States LettersPatent, Serial No. 158,594, filed May 25, 1903, with the exception ofminor deviations in the structural details of the car and dumpingapparatus. The front and rear wheels B B2 of the car travel on the trackA, and said car is open at its front and top, the front end thereofbeing closed by a door B, which is attached to a swinging frame which ishinged at its rear end to a transverse shaft-B,y extending transverselyacross the rear end of the car, as in the ca r shown in my said priorapplication. The shaft B5 is extended beyond the swinging IOO frame B"and is provided at its outer ends with rotative wheels I, which areadapted to strike inclined defleetor rails or bars E E, locatedlaterally outside of the track and supported at their lower ends on thesloping' track and on their upper ends on said upper frame or structure,as in my prior construction referred to, whereby the car is dumped as itreaches said frame. A difference between the dumping-car herein shownand that of my said prior application is that said wheels which engagethe deflector or dumping bars E, are journaled on the shaft B instead ofbeing' journaled on the shaft of the rear wheel B2, as in theconstruction of my aforesaid application. The cable F, by which the caris drawn up said sloping' track, .is attached by chains f to theswing'ing' frame B" and is trained over pulleys F F2 and thence to thedrum of a hoisting'- engine. (Not shown.) In the present constructionthe upper bars 7/ of said swinging door-frame are connected with thedoor by means of a transverse rod b2, which extends removably throughforwardly-directed flanges /j on the door. Said flanges are providedwith two or more holes, through either of which said rod may extend,whereby the upper bars may be shifted downwardly at their outer endswith respect to said door. The lower bars 7)" of said swingingdoor-frame have slotted connection at their rear ends with the upperbars, as shown in Fig. l, and are loosely connected at their forwardends with the lower side of the door, thereby permitting' such relativemovement of the upper bars to the door.

The adjustment of the upper bars of the door-frame to the door in themanner described is provided in order to enable the car to be drawn uptracks of differentinclinations and at the same time avoid tendency ofthe draft on the front end of the car lifting the rear end of the carloff the track. When the track has a greater slope or inclination thanshown in the drawings, the upper bars of said door-frame are moveddownwardly into their lower positions. lf desired, the wearingirons c,with which the deflector-bars E are faced, may be turned upwardly attheir upper ends, as indicated at c', to constitute stops to prevent thecar from being' pulled entirely ofi the deflector-bars when it is beingdumped.

'lhe operation of drawing the car up the sloping track and dumping thecontents thereof into the hopper C and thence into the vehicle D belowis sul'istantially thc same as that set forth in my prior applicationand need not be further described.

Located at the bottom of the excavation are a plurality of tracks, whichcover the same in such manner that dirt from all parts of the excavationmay be conveniently loaded directly in the car or cars on said tracks,and means are provided whereby by the use of a single cable (preferablyoperated from the drum of a hoisting-engine outside of the cxcavationand worked from a center located at the foot of the sloping track)loaded cars maybe transferred from any of said tracks to the slopingtrack and empty cars from the sloping' track to the branch or excavationtracks. I have shown herein one convenient arrangement for effecting'this result, though it will be obvious from the foregoing that thedetails of the arrangement may be varied. The arrangement illustratedwill now be described.

Located at the bottom of the sloping track A is a track G, extending'transversely from one side of the excavation to the other. Said track islocated in a depression below the level of the foot of the track A, asclearly shown in F ig'. la. Traveling on said track is atransfer-carriage H, made of open framework construction, as moreclearly shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, and having flanged wheels t, whichtravel on the rails of the track G. Supported on the top of saidtransfer-carriage is a short track consisting of parallel rails /r 7M,and the level of said track (nl is such relatively to the level of thefoot of the track A that the said track-rails /z/ are at the level ofthe track-rails A and when said carriage is standing' opposite saidtrack A permit a car to be moved from the transfer-carriage to the trackA, and vice versa. Extending in opposite directions from thetransfertrack G are a plurality of branch tracks I, laid in the bottomor Hoor of the excavation, the outer ends of said branch tracksextending to the sides of the excavation and at right ang'les to saidtransfer-track, as herein shown, though the directions of the saidbranch tracks may be varied. The branch tracks I are laid at the samelevel as the foot of the sloping track, the inner end of which latter ishorizontal, so that cars may be transferred .from the carriage H toeither and all of said branch tracks, and vice versa. The tracks l andhorizontal part of the track A will preferably when first laid be setsomewhat below the gcneral level of the excavation-floor and will belowered, as will the track as the dirt is removed from the excavation.As herein shown, two of the branch tracks I are located on the same sideof themain track G as the track A, while four are located on the otherside thereof.

The means provided for drawing the car or cars B from the outer ends ofthe several branch tracks to the transfer-carriage and for thereafterdrawing the transfer-carriage loaded with one of the cars B to the footof the sloping' track are made as follows: J designates a cable which ispreferably trained over a drum of the same hoisting-engine by which thecars are drawn up the inclined or sloping track and is trained about twosheaves K K, supported on a frame L, located at the foot ofthe slopingtrack A. Said cable is provided at its free end with a hook, by which itis connected with the carriag'e H. The sheaves IOO IIO

K K are disposed with their axes of rotation in planes perpendicular tothe track G and are rotatively mounted on shafts 7c, depending from across-bar L of the frame L. Said frame comprises four vertical posts L2L2, arranged at the corners of a rectangle, as herein shown, andconnected at their upper ends by longitudinal side members L3 L3 andtransverse end members Li L4. Said beam L is herein shown as parallelwith said side members and is attached at its ends to said end membersL". The frame is further strengthened by means of a central transversemember L5, parallel with the transverse end members. Arranged oppositeto the ends of the braneh tracks I, adjacent to the transverse track G,are a plurality of posts M, one for each branch track, and each post islocated on the side of the transverse track Gremote from its associatedbranch track. The posts M are surmounted by rotative pulleys or sheavesm.

The operation of drawing a loaded car from one of the branch tracks andtransferring it to the transverse track G and from thence to thc foot ofthe sloping track is as follows: It will be understood that the cable Jremains trained between the sheaves K K at all times and that it travelsin contact with one or the other, depending upon toward which end of thetrack G it is directed. A car after having been dumped in the mannershown in Fig. l, Sheet l, and after it has been allowed to travelgravity down the sloping track to the transfer-carriage at the foot ofsaid track is moved by hand or otherwise, together with thetransfer-carriage H, to the inner end of one of the branch tracks I, andthereafter the dumpingcar is transferred to that branch track and ismoved to the point on such track at which it is to be loaded. After thecar has been loaded the free or hooked end of the cable J is carriedlaterally along the track Gr toward thc branch track on which the loadedcar is located and is trained over the pulleys m of that post M which islocated in line with the said branch track containing the loaded car andis thence carried to the loaded car and connected with the said car.Preferably the hook j, of said cable is hooked into an eye b located atthe rear end of said dumping-car, as shown in Fig. 4., The hoisting-drumis now started and moves the car inwardly on the branch track andcarries it upon the track of the transfer-carriage which has been placedopposite said branch track. Thereafter the cable J is disconnected fromthe dumping-car and the hook thereof engaged with a hook h2 at the rearend of the transfer-carriage. The cable is then released from the sheavem, about which it was trained while the loaded car was being drawn tothe transfer-carriage, and its drum is rotated to take up the slack ofthe cable between the carriage and central sheaves K, and thereafter inthe continued rotation of said drum the transfer-carriage is drawn bysaid cable to the foot of the inclined or sloping track. The attachmentof the cable J to the rear end of the transfer-carriage enables saidcarriage to be drawn entirely loeneath the sheave-frame L and in linewith the rails of the track A. After the transfer-carriage has been inthis manner brought opposite the lower end of the sloping track A thecable F is connected with the dumping-car, and said dumping-car isthereby drawn up the sloping track to the frame C and the contentsthereof dumped in the manner shown in Fig. l. It will be observed thatwhen the dumping-cars B are drawn inwardly from the branch tracks whichextend parallel with the sloping tracks said cars are drawn backwardlyand are drawn forwardly from the branches on the other side of thetransverse track G toward said transverse track.

With the construction shown it will be observed that as manydumping-cars may be employed as there are branch tracks and that oneloaded car may be drawn to the transfer-carriage and from thencetransferred to the slopying track, from whence it is carried to thedumping apparatus while the other cars are being filled, and thatimmediately after one car has been dumped and returned to the excavationanother loaded car may be transferred to the sloping track, and in thismanner, if a sufcient force be employed to keep said cars filled, theapparatus may be constantly operated to draw the filled cars up thesloping track to the dumping apparatus.

In Fig. 4 I have shown in full lines the cable J arranged to draw aloaded car from one of the branch tracks to the transfer-track and indotted lines arranged to draw a loaded car from an opposite branch trackto the transfer-track, the manner of training the cable J over thesheaves m being thus clearly illustrated.

In lieu of the transfer-track G shown I may employ a central turn-tablelocated at the foot of the sloping track, and in this event the severalbranch tracks may extend radially from the turn-table instead of beingarranged as herein shown.

Other changes in the structural details may be made without departingfrom the spirit of my invention, and I do not wish to be limitedto thedetails shown except as hereinafter made the subject of specific claims.

I claim as my'invention l. An apparatus for removing dirt fromexcavations comprising a sloping track extend- ,ing from the bottom ofthe excavation to a point outside the same, a dumping-car traveling onsaid track, means at the upper end for dumping said car, a plurality ofbranch tracks laid on the bottom of the excavation, and meansfor'transferring the said car from the branch tracks to the foot of thesloping track and vice versa, embracing a cable which is trained about acentrally-located sheave or sheaves at the foot of said sloping' trackand adapted for connection with the car when on any of said branchtracks.

2. An apparatus for removing dirt from excavations comprising' a slopingtrack which extends from the bottom of the excavation to a point outsidethe same, a dumping-car traveling on said track, means at the upper endof the track for dumping said car, a transfertrack at the foot of thesloping track, branch tracks leading therefrom, a transfer-carriage onsaid transfer-track adapted to receive Aor deliver the dumping-car fromAor to either of the branch tracks and sloping track, and a cabletrained about a sheave at the foot of the sloping track and adapted tobe connected with the car when on either branch track to transfer it tothe carriage, and also to transfer the carriage to the foot of thesloping track.

3. An apparatus for removing dirt from excavations comprising a slopingtrack which extends from the bottom of the excavation to a point outsidethe same, a dumping-car traveling on said track, means at the upper endof the track for dumping said car, a transfertrack at the foot of thesloping track, a plurality of branch tracks leading` from saidtransfer-track and means for transferring said dumping-car from thebranch tracks to the transfer-track, in position to pass upon thesloping' track, comprising a transfer-carriage on said transfer-track, acable trained about a centrally-located sheave or sheaves at the foot ofthe sloping track and adapted for connection with said car and carriage,and a sheave located at the end of each branch track on the side of thetransfer-track remote from its branch track.

4. An apparatus for removing dirt from excavations comprising a slopingtrack extending from the bottom of the excavation to a point outside thesame, a dumping-car traveling said track, means at the upper end of thetrack for dumping said car, a transfertrack located at the foot of thesloping track and at a distance below the level of the foot of saidsloping track, a transfer -carriage traveling on said transfer-track andprovided with a short track adapted to register with the sloping track,a plurality of branches extending from said transfer-track and locatedat the level of the foot of the sloping track, a cable trained about asheave or sheaves at the foot of the sloping' track and adapted to beconnected with said carriage and with said car, and a sheave located atthe inner end of each branch track on the side of the transfertrackremote from said branch track.

5. An apparatus for removing dirt from excavations comprising a slopingtrack extending from the bottom of the excavation to a point outside thesame, a dumping-car traveling on said track, a door for closing thefront end of the car, a swinging frame to which the said door isattached and hinged to the rear end of the car, a cable attached to thedoor at the upper side thereof for drawing the car up said track andmeans whereby said cable may be attached to the door at differentverticallyseparated points.

6. An apparatus for removing dirt from excavations comprising a slopingtrack extending from the bottom of the excavation to a point outside thesame, a dumping-car traveling on said track, a door for closing thefront end of the car, a swinging frame to which said door is attachedcomprising two upper side pieces which are hinged at their rear ends tothe rear end of the car and are detaehably connected at their front endswith the door, a hoisting-cable attached to said side pieces of theframe, and means for raising and lowering the points of attachment ofthe said side pieces on the door.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I affix mysignature, in presence of two witnesses, this 21st day of September,

WILLIAM J. NEWMAN. I/Vitnesses:

VILLIAM L. HALL, GERTRUDE BR 7CE.

